A Way Out
by Slytherin Erudite
Summary: Have you ever wondered what caused the vendetta between the Montague and Capulet households? When Emaline Montague and Kenton Capulet have a romance and something goes horribly wrong a feud is formed that last for decades.
1. Chapter 1

Emaline's eyes fluttered open. She stared at her domed ceiling. Her eyes slowly ran over all the tiny cherubs and roses that she had over the years gotten used to seeing every morning. Taking in the sound of birds singing and her father yelling, both things she was used to waking up to, she stretched her arms high above her. She narrowed her sea green eyes as she swung her feet out of bed and walked to her balcony window where brilliant gold sunlight streamed in. The sun was shining fierce fully over the city of Verona and, as her father always said, the _sky_ was awake so _she_ should be awake. She scanned the ground, watching the common people go about their business. Some were buying groceries at the outdoor market, while children played in the grassy courtyard of the Montague estate. She couldn't help but smile to herself at the sight of the normality of the day, while her life was anything but.

Living in one of the most prestigious families had shaped her attitude. Her heart longed for the chance to live a normal life. A life where you had to work for what you wanted. A life where you were expected to go to the market every morning and bargain with the shopkeepers. She wanted nothing more than to live in a world where her parents did not forbid her from going into town unless escorted by a man of rank or prestige. Emaline was not grateful.

"Emaline! Come down here now!" Her father called, shaking her out of her reverie. She turned hastily from her sun-lit balcony and jogged down the stairs.

"Yes, father?" She asked reaching the dining hall.

"Oh yes, you have a visitor. I believe it is that Capulet boy, quite a chap isn't he, dear?" He said barely looking up. Her eyes lit up and she turned and ran for the door.

"Emaline! EMALINE! You can't go out looking like _that_!" Her mother called from the stairs, "We have a reputation to uphold!"

Emaline stopped in her tracks and turned toward the staircase. "Mother, I have a _robe_ on," She said as she flung the large mahogany door open.**  
**  
The sun hit Kenton and made a sort of halo around him. His dark brown chestnut hair and tall build made him look years older, though he was only sixteen. His footsteps reverberated around the small porch as he paced back and forth, his eyebrows furrowed. Emaline smiled to herself at the sight of him and his worried antics. He brought his hand up and started on his thumbnail. He had the worst habit of chewing his fingernails, making them all jagged.

"What_ are _you doing Kenton Capulet?" She laughed. His head shot up and a smile broke across his face. He stepped forward with his giant stride and grabbed her into a tight embrace. "I thought you'd never answer!" He said into her rust shaded hair.

She looked into his bright cerulean blue eyes and felt herself smiling wider than she had in days. "Would I ever not answer?" She asked, playfully shoving him.

"Get a room!" Her cousin, Bristol, called from the entrance hall. Kenton's cheeks turned a dark shade of scarlet and he let out a short nervous laugh.

Emaline grasped his hand and led him into the house. "Come. Before we go out into the city, I must get dressed," She said, leaving him in the middle of the wide entry room and sprinting up the stairs. "You stay here, and, erm, admire the paintings!"

She entered her bedroom and threw on the first dress she saw: a light blue flowing skirt with a white and black bodice. The skirt fell right below her knees and was quite scandalous for their city. Emaline had a habit of pushing the limits of the social standards.

She hesitated in her mirror, attempting to flatten her bedhead before surrendering to a comb. Her auburn hair fell around her face in thick curled tendrils and reached the small of her back. Smiling at herself in the mirror she felt a sort of euphoria flow over her and she squealed at the aspect of her going out into the city.

She hurriedly tugged on a pair of black satin slippers. From downstairs she could hear her mother telling Kenton the history of the paintings in their hall, a lecture she could recite in her sleep, she'd heard it so many times.

Emaline tripped out of her doorway, shoving discarded clothing into the middle of her room and hauled her dark oak door shut. She stopped at the top of the staircase and watched as her mother showed Kenton a painting of one of the previous Italian monarchs. He nodded along with her, occasionally asking questions. She could see from here that he was soaking up the information, memorizing it. Kenton was full of useless information, like how much oil their city used in a month, or the lifespan of a butterfly. He never forgot anything.

Emaline jogged down the stairs, running her hand over the cool wood of their banner, feeling the grain of the wood beneath her fingers. Her footsteps reverberated throughout the entry hall as she stepped onto their marble floor. She looped her arm through Kenton's and listened to the end of her mother's speech. "He was _quite _a fellow, you see, a real lady-killer. I'm quite certain he actually had more than six wives!" Emaline rolled her eyes and made a mental note to check with the pope to see if such was true.

"That was very fascinating, Lady Montague. I hadn't heard nearly any of those stories of King Phillip before," Kenton praised.

Lady Montague smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It was a pleasure telling you, dear. Now, you and Emaline better be off before you lose any more daylight!" She said ushering them to the door.


	2. Chapter 2

The streets of Verona were alive with laughter and commotion. The outdoor market was thriving with life, people crowding the streets and vendors yelling to reel them in. Emaline's face lit up with delight as she walked from stall to stall, examining every inch of the items on display. Kenton watched her with a smile on his face, and laughed every time she would gleefully jump into the air and squeal like the children surrounding them. Emaline felt her heart lift and felt freer than she had in as long as she could remember.

The sun slowly made its way behind the blood orange clouds and into the horizon. Emaline slipped her hand into Kenton's and laid her head on his shoulder, taking in the day. They had spent a majority of the day wandering the crowded market, taking time to stop at every vendor and trying every exotic food they could. Kenton wore a smile the entire time they were together, but whenever they fell into silence, at a loss for words, his smile would falter and his eyes would flick to the sun, as if waiting for something.

"What do you see when you look into the last of the sun's rays at the end of the day?" Kenton finally said, breaking the comfortable silence that had enveloped them. "I see a new beginning. One part of the day ends, but another begins…" Emaline replied, her voice trailing off. The sun slowly dipped down behind the clouds and a calm darkness spread over the city. Lights exploded to life all throughout the market and the town; oil lamps burning and torches flaming to life. The streets slowly began to smell of burning oil and fire, a smell that everyone knew by heart.

"Em-Emaline…" Kenton whispered. Her heart jumped into her throat at his hesitant tone. He grabbed her hand and led her to a clearing overlooking the city. They stood for a long moment in silence, just watching the homes flicker into brightness.

"Can I say something crazy?" He asked finally looking into her dark hazel eyes. "Will you marry me?!" A smile broke across her face and she leaned into him. "Oh Kenton…" She started; her face only inches from his. "You know that I don't love you right?"

His face fell and his breath caught in his throat. Emaline stepped back and crossed her arms, a malicious smile erupting across her face; she seemed to have been enjoying his pain. Kenton stood there dumfounded, shaking his head, and a thick fog overcoming his mind.

"Wh-what do you mean?" He finally asked his voice barely a whisper.

"Oh, you mean you _actually_ thought that I had _feelings_ for you?!" She threw her head back and laughed. She walked forward and wrenched his head up, forcing him to meet his eyes with hers. "Listen to me _very very_ carefully," She started, her tone icy. "I never loved you. I will never love you, okay?"

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head again, more forcefully this time, his chestnut hair falling into his eyes. "Is this some kind of… joke?" He asked, confusion radiating from his words. Emaline dropped her head into her hands and sighed.

"You just don't get it do you?!" She yelled; her frustration turning into maniacal laughter. "You and me? There was _nothing _there. You, Kenton, got me out of that horrible, suffocating house. You released me from my parents' death grip! I can't thank you enough for that, really. But that's all you were: _a way out_. And a pretty lousy one at that. These last few months have been fun, but I'm not going to _marry _you! I just. Kenton, hun, you are a wonderful boy, but I've got bigger fish to fry." Kenton's eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists. Emaline just continued on, "I need to get out of my home, my life of prestige, and I can't do that with you. I need someone who is ordinary. Not someone who comes from a house more high-status than mine! I'd be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. I know this probably hurts you, but I've had a whole childhood of hurt. You'll get over it."

Kenton stood there frozen in shock. He had never expected any of those words to come out of her mouth, out of the mouth of the woman _he loved. _His brain pieced together what she said, and his shoulders began to droop, his face becoming slack. He felt as though he had been pierced through his chest. If it were possible to die from a broken heart, he would surely do so.

His whole life, all he ever was, was a tool, a thing for someone to manipulate. Kenton looked to the stars and breathed in, trying to calm himself down. "Emaline-" His voice caught in his throat. "Emaline please don't do this," he pleaded.

"No. Please. I can't take it anymore. Your voice? Yeah, it _grates on my nerves. Like fingernails on a chalkboard_." Emaline seethed, clutching her hands over her ears.

A single tear rolled down his cheek, scarlet red from embarrassment.

"Ugh… Emotions. They really slow you down," Emaline said, circling him. "It gets you much further, you know, just _not having them_." A sudden idea clicked in Kenton's head. **_If he couldn't have her, they why should anyone else be able to?_**

He released himself of all emotion, and felt his hands clasp around her throat. "I will always love you…" He wheezed, slamming her head into the ground. Emaline squealed in shock and her eyes rolled into her head. He kept one hand clenched around her esophagus, and with the other searched for a sharp jagged rock. In that moment, his sanity shattered.

"You can't do this to me, Love," He uttered, finding a razor-sharp stone, and yelled a word with each blow to her head. Tears streamed down his face, as he continued to slaughter Emaline. A wicked smile spread across his lips as he watched tears flow from her eyes. "See, dear, you _do_ have emotion! I. Just. Needed. To. Bring. It. Out. Of. You." He enunciated, his voice deranged. Kenton dropped his hands from her throat and smoothed rust colored hair. Blood ran through, painting her hair an even darker shade.

With the last ounce of strength she had, Emaline swatted his hands away and raised her destroyed body and screamed to anyone who could hear her, anyone who was in the market. "You're a monster, and I'm going to make you pay…" She whispered; her sudden burst of adrenaline vanished. Kenton smothered her with his blood drenched hand and watched the life drain out of her eyes. "Shhh… Go to sleep…" He said in a singsong voice, just as a group of townspeople reached them.


End file.
